Water softener



May 30, 1944. E.A. KATHE WATER SOFTENER med July 22, 1940 [NVENTQR g I vBY A TTORNEYS.

Patented May 30, 1944 WATER SOFTENER Edmund A. Kathe, Springfield, Ohio,assignor to The Rainio Manufacturing Company, Springfield, Ohio, acorporation of Ohio Application July 22, i940, Serial No. 346,681

2 Claims. (Cl. 21d-40) This invention relates -to water softeners, itparticularly relating to a water softener which can be readily attachedto a supply source for water under pressure such as a domestic waterheater, or to a water storage tank, or other source of water supply.

An object of the invention is to provide a water softening attachmentfor water tanks which can be readily applied to the tank with but littlealteration in the tank.

An object of the invention is to provide a water softening device of thecharacter referred to whereby by a single manipulation of certainoperatlng devices the precipitation from the water tank may bedischarged and the softening material fed to the tank; a further andmore specific object being to provide for restoring the partsautomatically to normal position.

Further objects of the invention will appear from the accompanyingdescription and claims.

In the accompanying drawing the figure is a view partly in elevation andpartly in vertical section of the tank of a water heater and theimproved water softener attachment.

Referring to the drawing, i is a cylinder which has threaded on theupper end thereof a head t, having a chamber 2'. The head has a threadedinlet opening 3 in which is screwed one end of a pipe t which leads tothe lower end of the tank t of the hot water heater; this heater beingin the present case any well known type of domestic water heater, withpipes (not shown) for supplying water under pressure to the tank anddrawing it therefrom. Threaded on the lower end of the cylinder i is ahead ti the lower end of which communicates with a discharge pipe lthrough the coupling members 8, il, l and Il. The pipe l has a threadedconnection with a valve body I2 from which leads a pipe I3 to anysuitable point of discharge. The valve in the present case is of thetype having a tapered plug indicated by dotted lines at I4, I5indicating the passage therethrough, although any other suitable type ofvalve may be used. The valve has a pin I4 to cooperate with stopshoulders I2 on the body I2 to limit the movement of the valve. Thisvalve is connected with a drum it to which is attached a cable, oneportion il of the cable having secured thereto a weight I8. Anotherportion I9 of the cable is extended to any suitable accessible point andprovided with a handgrasping ring 20.

A cylinder ZI has a threaded connection with the head 2 and communicatestherewith, the cylinder being smaller than the cylinder I.

The

upper end of the cylinder 2| is closed by a head 22 which has a port 23leading from a small chamber 2t in the head to the cylinder 2i. Threadedinto the head is an adapter 25 having a passage it which communicateswith the small chamber 2t and connected with this adapter is a tube 'lwhich communicates with the upper end of the hot water tank 5. A checkvalve in the form of a ball 28 normally closes the port Z3.

The head t2 also has an inlet port 29 and screwed into the head andcommunicating with this port is a hollow fitting 3@ which is connectedto a pipe 3l through an adapter 32 which has a passageway which isnormally closed by a ball check valve dit; the lower end of the pipe 3lleading to a receptacle 35 which contains the water softening materialin liquid form, this material being any well known chemical suitable forthe purpose, the receptacle being open to atmosphere.

Slidably mounted in the cylinder l is a piston it and interposed betweenthe piston and the cap ii is a coil spring 3l, this coil springsurrounding a tube 38 which has a threaded connection with the pistonand also with a hollow stem t9 which extends through the piston and isformed with a chamber lll which communicates with the tube tu; thechamber t@ also communicating with the interior of the head 2 through aport ill; the lower end of the hollow tube 38 being open so as tocommunicate with the interior of the cylinder I. The stem 39 carries atits upper end a piston Mi having on each side thereof cup-shaped ringsl2 and 43 formed of rubber or other'nexible material, the three parts,piston it and cup shaped rings ft2 and 43, being connected together andalso to the end of the stem 39 by a screw t5. The upper side of thispiston has also secured thereto by the screw tli a plug tti formed ofyieldable vulcanized rubber or similar material. I

In operation, when it is desired to re-charge the water in the tank 5with the softening chemical the valve Id, which is normally closed, isrotated to open position to form a communication between the pipes 'Iand I3 by rotating the drum through the medium of the cable I9 and handring 2u, this being a. manual operation in the present case, the valveIt being held open for a predetermined length of time. Pressure isthereby relieved in the cylinder I below the piston 38 and permits waterto ow from the cylinder I through pipe l and its connections with thecylinder and pipe I3 to a suitable point of discharge, thus permittingthe discharge from the f lower end of the hot water tank of the matterwhich has been precipitated by the action of the softening chemical. Atthe same time the piston 36 is forced downwardly by the water pressureagainst the tension of the spring 3l and also against the pressure onthe under side of the piston M, pulling with it through the stem 39 thepiston M and the plug d6, thus uncover ing the ports 23 and 29. As thiscreates a partial vacuum above the plug the chemical solution is drawnup into the space between the head 22 and the plug, the parts being sodesigned and the valve le being held open a predetermined length oftime, that a predetermined charge of chemical solution will be depositedin this space. After a predetermined length of time the cable l@ isreleased by the operator and the drum iii is rotated back to its normalposition by the weight lil and cable il', closing the valve itl. Thespring 3l and pressure on the under side of the piston dit then act tolnforce the pistons 35 and dd upwardly in their respective cyl inders tothe position shown inthe drawings, the pressure on each side of the#piston 3d being now substantially equalized,- this movement displacingthe water in the chamber of the head 2, causing it-to flow into thecylinder i through the port All, chamber d@ and tube da. As the pistontt moves upwardly it creates a pressure greater than tha-t in the hotWater tank so as to open the valve 28 and close the valve ad and therebyforce the chemical solution through the connections described into theupper end4 of the tank 5, the plug 46 finally closing the ports 23 and2S, thereby permitting the valve 26 to close.

While there is shown a manual operation of the valve Ml, the valve maybe if desired operated automatically.

Having thus described my invention, I claim:

1. In a water softening apparatus, a cylinder, a piston therein, a waterinlet connection for said cylinder on one side of said piston adapted tobe connected to a source of Water under pressure, a water dischargeconnection for said cylinder on the opposite side of said piston, ahollow tube associated with said piston and extending into the spaces onopposite sides of said piston, a restricted passage in said tube withinthe inlet end of said cylinder, a spring surrounding said tube andinterposed between the piston and a. xed abutment in said cylinder., avalve for controlling fiow of water between said inlet and dischargeconnections, a second smaller cylinder communicating with said firstmentioned cylinder, a piston therein', means connecting the two pistons,means connecting said smaller cylinder to a source of watery softeningmaterial and including a check valve, means including a check valveconnecting said smaller cylinder to the water supply source, wherebywhen said valve is opened the larger piston, will be moved by waterpressure from the water supply source rial from said cylinder.

2. In a water softening apparatus, a cylinder, a piston therein, a waterinlet connection for said cylinder on one side of said piston adapted tobe connected to a source of water under pressure, a water dischargeconnection for said cylinder on the opposite side of said piston, ahollow tube associated with said4 piston and extending into the spaceson opposite sides of said piston, a restricted passage in said tubeWithin the inlet end of said cylinder, a spring surrounding said tubeand interposed between the piston and a fixed abutment in said cylinder,a valve for' controlling flow of Water between said inlet and dischargeconnections, a second smaller cylinder communicating with said iirstmentioned cylinder, a piston therein. means connecting the two pistons,means connecting said smaller cylinder to a source of water softeningmaterial and including a check valve, means including a check valveconnecting said smaller' cylinder to the water supply source, wherebywhen said valve is opened the larger piston will be moved by waterpressure from the water supply source against the tension of the springand said smaller piston moved therewith to draw in a supply of Watersoftening material into the smaller cylinder, and when said valve isclosed said larger piston will be returned to its normal position bysaid spring to inject the water softening material into said watersupply source.

